Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New Investment in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $427,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AJG. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 543.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% during the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $286.13 on Tuesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $218.63 and a one year high of $316.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.57. The company has a market capitalization of $71.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.74.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.26. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $254.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.57.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,625,146.84. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total transaction of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,800 shares of company stock worth $4,789,260. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.